Lucky
by Lizinnv
Summary: A conversation just before Rusty and Sharon leave the condo to make the adoption official. Fluffy mothership speculation.


WARNING: This is short, sentimental, mothership fluff, and my first fic. Posting this is way out of my comfort zone, so I'm a bit nervous. Hope you like!

"Rusty, are you just about ready?" Sharon put on her earrings as she practically skipped down the hall towards Rusty's room. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but found it slightly ajar. "Rusty?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." His voice sounded a little sad, in contrast to her own jubilance. She peered in through the crack and saw him sitting on the bed in his suit, staring down at a something he was holding in his hands.

"Everything OK?"

"Yeah, Sharon."

But he made no effort to stand up, so she opened his door a little further. "Mind if I come in?"

He nodded and Sharon stepped into his bedroom slowly and made her way over to the bed. As she approached, she noticed it was a photograph that he held in his hands. She sunk down cautiously next to him and looked over his shoulder at the picture, which was faded and crumpled. It depicted a young Sharon Beck, stunningly beautiful, long blond hair blowing in the wind. She was smiling broadly, one arm around a very cute, familiar little boy, about 5 or 6 years old. He was standing in his swim trunks before a sandcastle and grinning, one bottom tooth missing, obviously proud of his construction.

Rusty spoke, but did not take his eyes off the photograph. "There were good times too, you know."

"I never doubted it, honey."

"I'm pretty sure I remember this day. We spent all day at the beach, and she helped me build that," he pointed to the sandcastle and continued. "She bought ice cream. I thought she would be mad when I dropped mine on the ground, but she just laughed and bought me another one. Cherry Chocolate." He smiled wistfully to himself at the memory.

Sharon remembered taking Emily and Ricky to the beach when they were young - little hands sticky with ice cream or watermelon and covered in sand. Those were some of her happiest memories as well.

"I'm glad that you have good memories of her, Rusty." She smiled at him, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand but didn't say anything else.

Sharon continued to study the photograph. "I've never seen this picture before, you've had it all this time?" In fact, it was the only photograph she'd ever seen of Rusty as a young child. As far as she knew, the only other photos that existed of him before he came to her were those taken by DCFS and the LAPD. The thought made her sad.

Rusty nodded. "After I walked back to the apartment from the zoo, the landlord let me in to look around. This was lying on the floor, just under the bedside table so I almost missed it. I used to look at it every day after she left. Even after I moved in here."

"Rusty, we could take it to a professional and have it restored, put it in a frame, if you'd like."

He finally turned to look at her. "Really?"

"Really. Honey, I want you to hang on to those happy memories."

Rusty leaned forward to put the photo on the dresser, sat back, and then looked at her again. "Sharon, thank you. For everything."

"You don't need to thank me. I gave you what every child deserves. You are the one who decided to put in the hard work and make something of it. Not everyone does."

"All the same, I got really lucky to end up with you."

"I got pretty lucky too, Rusty."

He looked at her incredulously and it broke her heart a little.

"Really. I mean it," she spoke slowly, holding his eyes, trying to convince him.

"I still don't understand Sharon, what you get out of this? How you can consider yourself lucky?"

Sharon sighed and tried to explain to him, again. "Rusty, I love being a mother. Maybe someday, you'll decide to be a parent and you'll understand a little more clearly. Helping someone mature into the wonderful human being that you are, it brings me a great deal of joy. You let me do that for a third time, and that does indeed make me very lucky. I am so_, so happy, _Rusty, that you are going to be my son."

They both looked away momentarily, not accustomed to such sentimental conversation. As their gazes returned to each other, Rusty's mouth opened and closed several times, considering carefully what he was going to say next. For a moment, he looked as though he was going to drop it, but then he spoke.

"And I'm so_, so happy," _he echoed her inflection and then paused, eyes darting to the floor before slowly coming to meet hers once again, "that you're going to be my mother, Sharon."

Sharon smiled, happy tears threatening, and put her arm around his shoulder, leaning her head onto his briefly before standing up. "Let's go make it official, shall we?"

He nodded and stood up after her, and they made their way together toward the front door.


End file.
